


The Purified

by VampirePaladin



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (1992 anime)
Genre: Canon - Anime, Dark, F/F, Get Together, Post-Canon, Sacrifice, Slow Burn, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 03:27:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20185495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampirePaladin/pseuds/VampirePaladin
Summary: An ancient superweapon created by Queen Serenity to use against the Earth threatens the present.  Usagi is forced to confront truths about her past life that she didn't want to and deal with heavy losses, luckily she has the support of her friends and, most importantly, Seiya Kou to help her.





	The Purified

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spookykingdomstarlight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookykingdomstarlight/gifts).

Sailor Galaxia was freed from Chaos. All the Starseeds were being returned to their rightful place in the cosmos. There would be time for goodbyes and farewells, but tonight the Sailor Senshi or two different worlds were celebrating. There was music, dancing, and plenty of pizza. 

Seiya leant back in her chair, a cup of soda in her hand. She watched everyone smiling and having a good time. It was the first time Seiya and the others had been in their natural form without acting as a Sailor Senshi since they’d come to Earth. It felt good to be in her real form and she was relieved that feelings she’d developed in her male form remained. Those feelings mattered to her, even if it was painful to watch Usagi and Mamoru flirt. At least she could see Usagi be happy, even if that beautiful smile wasn’t directed at her.

For a brief, selfish moment, Seiya wished she could be Usagi’s support.

The music coming from the radio stopped as a long, loud beep came from it. The partying came to an instant halt. It was the emergency alert. It beeped twice more.

“We interrupt this radio broadcast with an important alert. All around the Earth, fissures are opening up. From them are emerging humans with crystal growths coming from their bodies. All attempts to make contact with them have been met with violence. The Self-Defense Force and the American Military are coordinating to contain the threat, all civilians are advised to remain in their homes and await for further instruction. We now will return you to your regular broadcast.”

Setsuna’s face had paled during the transmission. “No,” she whispered.

“Setsuna-mama?” Hotaru asked as she looked up at one of her adoptive mothers in concern.

Setsuna sank into a chair.

“Do you know anything about this?” Haruka demanded.

“I do. They are what you could call a weapon of mass destruction, from the war between the Earth and the Moon.”

“This is Beryl’s doing?” Usagi asked.

Setsuna shook her head. “No, these were created by Queen Serenity.”

There were gasps all around. While many of the Earth senshi had regained some memories of the Silver Millennium, none had all of them. It was only Setsuna that had the complete picture of what had happened back then.

“The queen purified Earthlings.”

“Like how Usagi will purify a transformed human?” Rei asked.

“No, it was more than that. She would purify them of everything, every sin, every desire, every lust and implanted in them a piece of crystal that would grow, keeping them pure and driving them to purify others.” Setsuna was pale and grew paler as she spoke, finally sitting down in a chair.

“No!“ Usagi cried out, tears in her eyes. “Why? Why would Queen Serenity do something so horrible? She was the good side in the war between the Earth and the Moon!”

“Princess, you were young, and Queen Serenity sheltered you from much. The conflict between the Earth and the Moon was more complicated than just yourself and Endymion.”

Even with the music back on, the party was over. All the senshi, even Haruka and Michiru, were pressing Setsuna for more details about the conflict that took place so long ago and information about the purified humans left behind by it. Usagi had started off asking disbelieving questions before turning silent, going to Mamoru for comfort. Seiya saw all of it. She wished that she was the one that would give comfort to Usagi, to be the arms to support her in her time of need, but that wasn’t what Usagi had chosen and Seiya cared more about Usagi’s happiness and comfort than she did about her own ego and love for her.

* * *

There was no one to see the Starlights and Kakyuu off on their trip home. The crisis on Earth was taking all the time and resources for its Sailor Senshi. 

All three Starlights fidgeted and kept looking around as they moved to the teleportation point. None of the purified humans had been spotted in the area yet, but their numbers were growing, and they were expanding further and further. None of the Starlights wanted to leave the friends that they had made in their time on this planet. Even Kakyuu appeared to be ill at ease despite having only known Usagi and the others for a very short amount of time.

“This isn’t right,” Seiya said. “We should be helping them. They are our friends! We can’t just leave them in our time of need!” She’d had enough of this and just couldn’t be silent any more.

“Don’t you think we feel the same way,” Yaten spat out.

“They didn’t want to deprive Kinmoku of all its protectors. They have nine senshi and Tuxedo Mask. We have three and threats come to our world too,” Taiki said. She was being logical about it, but she was as unhappy as the rest of them.

“Kinmoku has four senshi,” Kakyuu said. “Did you forget that I also have the ability to transform?” She looked between the her most valued and treasured friends. Their pain was her pain. “Sailor Senshi should not abandon one another and neither should we abandon our world. One of you will stay behind to help the Moon Princess and her forces. The other two will return to Kinmoku with myself. From there we will reach out to the other worlds and request help for Earth from any that can spare some of their Senshi. The universe and all its senshi owe Earth a great deal of debt. Which amongst you wishes to stay behind?”

Yaten didn’t hesitate to say, “Seiya.”

“I agree, Seiya is the best choice,” Taiki said.

Seiya wanted to stay, she wanted to protect Usagi and everyone else, but she also knew that Taiki and Yaten had formed their own close bonds. “Me? But Taiki has her intellect and Yaten has her premonitions.”

“They have Mercury to provide support and both Mars and Neptune have premonitions,” Taiki said, being logical again. The look in her purple eyes said that she wanted to be by Ami’s side even as her lips uttered words against staying. “Someone strong in battle is the best we can offer them right now.”

Seiya opened her mouth and closed it, nodding her head. She’d be the one to stay.

“Take care of everyone until we find help,” Yaten said.

“I will. This isn’t goodbye. I’ll see all of you soon, with our friends.” Seiya gave a cocky wave and a wink before turning away from the others.

“Fighter Star Power, Make-Up!”

* * *

The nine senshi and Tuxedo Mask stood on top of a hill overlooking the battle. The combined forces of the Japanese Self Defense Force and the United States military were engaged with the purified humans. Off in the distance could be the occasional boom from one of the Self Defense Force’s Howitizers before an artillery shell would come down on a group of purified humans. 

“They’re slowing them down, but it’s only a matter of time before the purified break through,” Uranus said. 

“We’ll have to take care of it before that happens,” Neptune said. 

“I have the coordinates,” Sailor Mercury said as she looked up from her computer, the blue glasses still covering her eyes as they displayed the latitude, longitude, and elevation. 

“Is it clear of the purified?” Venus asked.

Mercury shook her head. “It’s clear enough for us to teleport in, but it’s close to the center of mass for the horde of purified. We’ll have five seconds before we’re overrun.”

“I can get my barrier up in time,” Saturn said.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine, Saturn?” Pluto asked.

Sailor Saturn nodded. “We’re also fighting for the future Chibiusa lives in. I won’t let my best friend down.” Conviction shined in her eyes.

“We can’t hurt any of them,” Sailor Moon said. “They’re all innocent people.”

As one the others nodded in agreement. All ten gathered together in a circle, clasping each other’s hands, closing their eyes.

“Sailor Teleport,” they said as one.

The air changed from smelling of nature to smelling of rocks, minerals, burnt flesh, and gunpowder. Smoke from the bombardment gave a grey hue to everything. The ground beneath their feet was hard rock. All around them were the purified, crystals bursting from their skin like a parasite hatching from its host.

Sailor Saturn released her grip on the others. The Silence Glaive materialized in her hands as one of the purified turned its head to look at them. It let out a screech, causing more to turn their heads and repeat the call. Sailor Saturn held her glaive out, across her body. The purified began to run towards them like an oncoming wave.

“Silent Wall!” The barrier was up, glowing purple whenever one of the purified ran up against it. More kept coming, mindlessly trying to get at the humans behind it.

“Saturn, on my mark, you need to drop the barrier. Sailor Moon, go,” Sailor Mercury said as she consulted her computer.

“Everyone be ready to defend the princess,” Venus said as the rest took up defensive positions around Sailor Moon.

“Silver Moon Crystal Power…”

“Drop it,” Mercury ordered. 

Sailor Saturn dropped the barrier protecting them from the purified.

“KISS!” 

A wave of power spread from Sailor Moon’s wand, engulfing the entire area. For Sailor Moon and her allies, they would have felt a gentle warmth, reminding them of being in their mother’s arms. The purified stopped movie, beginning to convulse.

“Oh no,” Mercury said as warnings were displayed across her computer screen.

More crystals sprouted from the putified, and the ones already there grew bigger.

“It didn’t work,” Sailor Moon gasped.

“Mercury, what happened?” Jupiter asked as the antenna extended from her tiara.

“It’s because these people aren’t corrupted. Queen Serenity did the opposite, she purified them too far. Sailor Moon’s powers will only exacerbate the situation.”

Sailor Saturn screamed. She was the closest to the purified and she was trying to bring her glaive back up, but two of them already had hands on her.

“No!” Tuxedo Mask called out. He was close to Saturn. A throne rose lanced across the purified’s skin before exploding, making them release Saturn. Tuxedo Mask grabbed the small girl in his arms and tossed her back calling out, “Neptune!”

“I got her,” Neptune said as she caught Saturn.

Sailor Saturn was safe, but now Tuxedo Mask was in danger. One grabbed his left arm. Tuxedo Mask struck them with his cane. The purified released him, but two more grabbed him, one around the waist and the other on his right arm. 

“Tuxedo Mask,” Sailor Moon called out as she reached out towards him. 

He was surrounded by the purified and pulled into their midst until they could not see any of him, not even his hat.

“Aku Ryo Tai San!” Sailor Mars shouted as she threw a dozen Ofuda charms in the direction that Tuxedo Mask has been. They hit the purified and just fell off them, with no effect. Mars frowned, but the look in her eyes said that she had expected that.

“We need to fight,” Sailor Jupiter said.

“No!” Sailor Moon cried out.

“Forgive us, princess,” Uranus said. “World Shaking!” Her attack hit the ground, the air pressure causing it to shake before rising up and plowing through the purified, killing the hosts and leaving behind only colorless crystals.

“Deep Submerge!”

“Dead Scream!”

“Silence Glaive Surprise!”

The attacks of the four cleared the area around them, but a moment later and the purified were already filling in the area that they’d cleared out.

“We need to teleport out,” Venus said.

“They won’t give us time to teleport,” Jupiter called out. She grabbed a purified and tossed them over her hip.

“We can’t leave without Tuxedo Mask,” Sailor Moon said, tears in her blue eyes. She dodged backwards as a purified tried to attack her.

Sailor Venus looked around at everyone. They were all fighting so hard. She cared about each and every one of them, but she was a leader. It was only a matter of time before they were overrun. They needed to get out and fighting their way through wasn’t an option. 

She knew what they had to do, but who to pick. Mercury was obvious, she was the only one that fully understood her computer. Even if Mars’ charms weren’t working, she still had a strong sixth sense and her dedication to Sailor Moon was unwavering. Sailor Saturn was just a little girl. Sailor Pluto’s position as the Guardian of Time also gave them a last resort.

“Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Saturn, and Sailor Pluto will teleport out together. Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and I will keep all of you clear and we’ll teleport out second.”

Sailor Venus exchanged looks with the other three. There wouldn’t be a second teleport and all four of them knew it.

Before they could act, a purified grabbed Sailor Moon by her wings and started to drag her away. Sailor Moon kicked out behind her, but her kick was awkward and missed them completely.

“Star Serious Laser!” the attack came from above, clearing out a spot near Sailor Moon as Sailor Star Fighter landed.

“Fighter,” Uranus cried as she threw the Space Sword.

Fighter caught it in one hand and with a swing, slashed through Sailor Moon’s white cloth wings. With sword in one hand, she grabbed Sailor Moon’s other hand, and together they ran towards Mercury and the others. There wasn’t time for Fighter to ask questions as everyone grasped hands, Sailor Moon still holding one, and Mars placing hers over top of Fighter’s other.

“Sailor Teleport!

* * *

Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Pluto, and Sailor Star Fighter reappeared in a Tokyo park. There was no one around. Sailor Saturn let go of Sailor Pluto and Sailor Mercury and sunk to the ground. She didn’t make a sound, she just sat there.

They waited a minute, then five, then ten. No one else teleported to join them.

“No, where are the others?” Sailor Moon demanded.

None of them would look her in the eyes. Everybody found someplace else to look as Sailor Moon looked at them wide eyed.

“Usagi,” Mars said softly, “they stayed behind so that the rest of us could get away. They aren’t coming back.”

“No!” Sailor Moon cried out. “Why? Why would they do that?” she demanded from the others.

“It’s because we all knew that you wouldn’t leave if you knew the truth,” Sailor Mercury said.

* * *

The surviving Sailor Senshi took shelter at the Hikawa shrine. Rei’s grandfather didn’t ask them any questions. He just silently brought out sleeping bags and food for the girls. 

Rei went to consult the sacred fire. Ami was discussing events with Setsuna to attempt to formulate a new plan. Hotaru was sleeping, curled up in Rei’s bed.

Seiya went looking for Usagi and found her outside, sobbing.

“Oh, Seiya,” Usagi sniffled, wiping away her tears and the snot coming from her nose. 

It hurt Seiya to see Usagi so heartbroken again. As much as Seiya wanted to be with Usagi, she’d never wish this kind of pain on her, not again.

“The others are going to try and get other Sailor Senshi to come help,” Seiya said. “They decided I’d be the best person to stay behind and aid you until help comes.”

“Seiya, can I ask you a personal question?” Usagi asked.

“Yes, of course.”

“Was it hard when you left your home and came to Earth?” Usagi asked.

Seiya nodded. “Yes, it was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do. I felt like a coward even though I knew I couldn’t accomplish anything by staying. And since Galaxia wanted Sailor Crystals, we thought that if she knew that all our system’s Sailor Crystals were on another planet that she’d leave the regular people alone.”

“My powers, they just made everything worse. I couldn’t turn the people back and then some of them died.” Usagi hung her head.

“I know what that feels like. We had to kill phages before we met you and you showed that you could turn them back to normal.”

“The others, they’ll come back right?” Usagi asked Seiya, looking for hope.

“They came back after Sailor Galaxia,” Seiya said.

Usagi nodded. “They came back after Queen Beryl too. So, they aren’t really gone, just gone until we win, right?” 

It would have been so easy for Seiya to selfishly dash Usagi’s hopes, to tell her that they wouldn’t have another miracle, that this was the real end. “Maybe,” Seiya answered honestly.

* * *

“We have an idea,” Ami said as the survivors all gathered around the table in Rei’s bedroom.

“We can save everyone?” Usagi asked.

“We don’t know yet,” Setsuna said. “But we have at least one option.”

“The problem with the people we have been fighting is that they are completely purified, leaving nothing else in them,” Ami said.

“But that’s not natural, every person has darkness in them,” Rei said.

“Exactly. The reason why Usagi’s powers didn’t work was because they have already been purified too far and Usagi’s powers are ones designed to purify.”

“I’m sorry,” Usagi said.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Seiya said.

Rei gave Usagi a smile, “It worked for the past five years. You couldn’t know known it would be different this time.”

“Back during the battle with the Dark Kingdom there was a high concentration of dark energy concentrated at the North Pole. Most of that energy has dissipated, but we have found one small, but intense concentration that is still there. We don’t know what it is, but we are hoping that we can recover it and possible use it to introduce just enough dark energy into the purified to return them back to normal.”

“I’ll go get it,” Usagi immediately volunteered. “My mother caused this. My powers made it worse. Let me go find it where I can be helpful.”

“You can’t go alone, Usagi,” Rei said.

“I’ll go with her,” Seiya said.

“What will the rest of you do?” Usagi asked.

“We’re going to try and coordinate with the different militaries fighting the purified around the world to keep them contained,” Ami said. Even though she’d been the team tactician and not the leader, she was stepping up in the absence of Sailor Venus, something that Ami couldn’t have imagined doing back when it was just Usagi, Rei, and herself.

“Take Haruka-Papa’s sword with you,” Hotaru said. “Use it to protect our princess.” Her words were too solemn for a girl her age.

“I will,” Seiya promised.

* * *

Even transformed it was cold at the North Pole. Kinmoku was a warmer planet than Earth and for the first time Fighter regretted that her fuku reflected that. At least Sailor Moon was able to quickly lead them underground.

“How long ago was the battle here?” Fighter asked.

“Five years ago,” Sailor Moon said. “They were our first enemies.” Sailor Moon’s voice waivered.

“You don’t sound too sure about that,” Fighter said as she jumped down a ledge. She held out her arms and caught Sailor Moon when she jumped down to join her.

“They were the people that fought the Moon Kingdom in my past life. I always thought they were just evil to the core and that the Moon Kingdom was all good, but Queen Serenity, my mother in my past life, did this horrible thing. Maybe the Dark Kingdom were actually the good guys?”

“You don’t talk about your past life much.”

“I only really know what Queen Serenity showed me.” Sailor Moon frowned. “In the past I was Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom and I was in love with Prince Endymion of the Earth. Our love was forbidden. In the future we are married, become king and queen of the Earth and we have a daughter named Chibiusa.”

That was a very specific description of the future. “You know this is going to happen because…”

“We went to the future and we saw it,” Sailor Moon said. They passed a beautiful structure of ice crystals that reflected the light all around them.

“Is that what you want your future to be?” Fighter asked. It wasn’t meant to be a trick question. She just wanted to know that Usagi would be happy and have the future she wanted.

“I- Look!” Sailor Moon was distracted from her question by the sight in front of her. They were at the source of the highly concentrated Dark Energy.

Before them was a large clear block of ice. Inside of it was Jadeite, frozen in a moment of fear and terror as he tried to convince Queen Beryl to give him one more chance.

“Do you know him?” Fight asked as the two approached the ice.

“Yes, this is Jadeite. He fought for the Dark Kingdom. He was the first enemy I faced. Back then it was just me, Mercury, and Mars. The last battle against him was fierce. I didn’t think we’d make it.”

“We should just leave him. This was a dead end,” Fighter said.

Sailor Moon looked up into the eyes of a man that had talked down on her and her friends, who’d tried to kill them. He’d been horrible and Sailor Moon hadn’t thought of him at all since the last time they fought, but if Queen Serenity hadn’t been pure good maybe the residents of the Dark Kingdom hadn’t been all bad.

“I’m going to free him,” Sailor Moon said.

“Are you sure, Odango?” Fighter asked. When Sailor Moon nodded, Fighter brandished the Space Sword and stood ready. “Alright but if he attacks you then I’m fighting back.”

“Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss!” Sailor Moon’s attack purified the ice, causing Jadeite to drop to the floor.

There was a moment of fear and then a smirk when he saw that it was just Sailor Moon and one other Senshi that he didn’t recognize. Fighter was read and she had the tip of the Space Sword pointed at his throat. It would be easy to reach out just a little more and pierce it.

“Queen Beryl’s magic has word off,” Jadeite said. He wisely remained sitting on the floor for the moment.

Sailor Moon said, “No, I am the one that freed you.”

“That’s impossible. You’re nothing but a weak little girl,” Jadeite spat out.

“I am the reincarnated Princess Serenity. I possess the Silver Crystal and the Dark Kingdom was vanquished years ago. I want to know, why did you declare war on the Moon Kingdom?” 

“Is this really the time to be asking this?” Fighter asked. She didn’t look away from Jadeite, but her question was directed towards Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon nodded. “I need to know.”

“The Moon wouldn’t let us have contact with any other planets in the Solar System or have any contact with planets outside of it. They had the Silver Crystal and all the other Sailor Senshi vowing allegiance. They said they did it for our protection, but we didn’t get to have any say in it. Our Prince would rather spend his time sneaking off to go flirt with the Moon Princess than fulfil his duty as a prince. And since the moon didn’t have much farmland, we had to give a percentage of our food to it every year so that they could eat.” There was hatred in Jadeite’s eyes as he looked at Sailor Moon, for the first time recognizing the thorn in his side as Princess Serenity.

“Thank you, Jadeite. I can’t do anything about what happened in the past and I don’t think I can bring back any of your companions, but you are free to go.”

“What?” both Fighter and Jadeite said at the same time.

“You can stay on Earth; you can leave it. You can do whatever you want and the Sailor Senshi will leave you alone unless you start attacking people again.”

Fighter knew Sailor Moon had a kind and loving heart that was full of forgiveness, but she was surprised by what Sailor Moon was offering Jadeite. 

“What’s the catch?” 

“None. The purified humans are attacking the Earth, and we’d like your help, but we won’t force you.”

Jadeite started to laugh. “Your own superweapon is causing the problem and you want me to help with it.”

“Yes,” Sailor Moon simply said. “Do you want to save your home from the Moon Kingdom or are you going to let my mother’s weapon destroy it?”

“Fine, I’ll help you, but this doesn’t make us friends and once this is over I want nothing to do with you.”

* * *

They returned to Hikawa Shrine with Jadeite. Ami and Rei were not pleased with the return of Jadeite. Setsuna seemed amused by it. Usagi stood by her decision, saying that everybody deserved a second chance. Jadeite was cooperative, and other than some needling of Ami and Rei, he was mostly behaved. He was able to instill dark energy into humans and Ami was able to formulate a plan. 

First, Sailor Mercury would use her powers to create a smoke screen at the edge of the horde. Then Sailor Star Fighter would attack a straggler and get it to follow her. She would lead it away from the others, with Sailor Mars ready to assist if Fighter were to find herself in danger. Once she led it to the meeting point, Sailor Saturn would create a barrier around it, Jadeite, and Sailor Pluto. Jadeite would then attempt to force enough dark energy into the purified to turn them back into a human. If it didn’t work, then Sailor Pluto would take care of it. 

They were going to act at night, and so there were a few hours to themselves.

“Are you hungry?” Seiya asked Usagi as she held a chocolate bar out to her.

“Yes, thank you,” Usagi said as she took it, opening the wrapper and taking a bite. She was sitting on the edge of the porch and looking out over the shrine’s grounds.

“What’s wrong, Usagi?” Seiya asked.

“I’m not in the plan at all. I don’t like it that everyone is risking their lives except for me. I don’t want to lose anyone else.” Usagi’s eyes had a distant look.

Seiya sat down on the porch next to Usagi. “If it works the person is going to be scared and confused. You’re the best person in the world to help them, to cheer them up, maybe help them to find their way home.” 

“That is important,” Usagi perked up. “Are you scared? You have one of the most dangerous jobs.”

“I am a little,” Seiya admitted. “But I care about you and what happens to your world. It is because of you that my home is safe again. The least I can do is help defend yours.”

Usagi was looking at Seiya. Then she mumbled, “Do you think Chibiusa would forgive me?”

“What was that?” Seiya asked.

“No, nevermind,” Usagi quickly said. There was a flash of guilt on her face before it was quickly hidden by a cheerful smile. “The chocolate was good.” Usagi balled up the wrapper and held it in her hand.

“I’m glad I could make things a little brighter,” Seiya said.

Their eyes locked together for a moment before they both purposely looked away.

* * *

“You seem distracted, princess,” Sailor Pluto said as they waited in the woods for Sailor Star Fighter to lead a purified human to them.

“I am,” Sailor Moon said. “Aren’t you worried about Chibiusa and fixing the timeline?” She knew how much Sailor Pluto had cherished the friendship she shared with Usagi’s future daughter.

“No,” Sailor Pluto said. There was some sadness in her voice, but Sailor Moon had expected a more emotional response.

“But why?”

“Princess, time is complicated. Small Lady’s existence won’t be erased because we don’t go down the same path. Her future still exists and always will exist, because she was part of our pasts. But she can only visit a timeline when it still leads to her future, once it diverges it becomes closed off to her and her future from us. I am sad that I will never see Small Lady again, or at least that version of her, but I know that she will become a proud Sailor Senshi that will make her mother proud.”

“But what about when we were fighting Nehelenia and Chibiusa started to vanish?” 

“That was because the timeline threatened to diverge while she was at the point of divergence. If she had been in the future it would not have affected her at all.” Sailor Pluto gave Sailor Moon a smile. “You always are and always have been free to live your life however you chose to.”

“I see them!” Sailor Saturn cried out as she pointed.

Sailor Star Fighter was leading the purified human towards them, moving fast enough to stay out of arm’s reach but slow enough to not lose it. Sailor Moon felt her heart pumping hard in her chest as she watched.

Then Fighter slipped and fell. Sailor Moon screamed, fear running up and down her spine. Then rings of fire hit the ground in between the purified and Fighter. They bought just enough time for Fighter to get back on her feet and start running again.

Fighter looked up for a second and their eyes met. There was a hint of a smile on Fighter’s face and she started to move faster to reach Sailor Moon and the others. Sailor Saturn was hiding behind a boulder. She waited for first Fighter and then the purified human to go past.

“Silent Wall!” Saturn cried out, trapping the person, Jadeite and Sailor Pluto inside.

Darkness cackled in Jadeite’s hands, which he shot at the person. They screamed as the crystals started to crack and fall off them. The normal human dropped to his knees, blood flowing out of the places where the crystals had been, but otherwise being fine.

“What happened? Where’s my son?” the man asked as he looked back and forth helplessly.

Sailor Saturn dropped the barrier and Sailor Moon moved to the man’s side. “Don’t worry, it’s going to be alright.”

* * *

The battle waged on. They were freeing more and more people, but they were limited by Jadeite’s strength. Once he had spent his energy he was done for until he rested. At the rate that they were going versus how fast people were being purified, they were going to fail.

The schools were shut down and martial law was in effect at night. People were encouraged to only come out of their homes when necessary. This left the streets of Tokyo feeling like a ghost town.

“I brought lunch,” Usagi said to Seiya. “Mom packed it for us.” She held out a brightly wrapped bento, big enough for both of them

“She’s fine with you leaving the house?” Seiya asked.

“She wasn’t, but I finally told her the truth. Luna wasn’t happy about it, but she’s answering all of Mom’s questions.”

The two sat silently together as they ate their meal. It was almost worse now that they had a way to turn individuals back to normal. They had a method, but it was too slow to implement on a large scale.

“I’ve been thinking about a way to turn more people back to normal. I have an idea, but it’s even scarier than using Jadeite.” 

Seiya placed her hand on top of Usagi’s. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“There’s another planet in the Solar System called Nemesis. In the 30th Century I’ll banish people to live there. There is something there called the Black Crystal. It gives off dark energy. We destroyed the one from the future, but there must be one in this time period. If we could find it then we could use it to turn more people back to normal.” Usagi was looking down at her food instead of Seiya.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Seiya said. If there was something in the Solar System that they could use to fix this then that sounded like something that they should look into. “Why is that scary to you?”

“Prince Demand tried to use the Black Crystal to turn me evil. He kidnapped me, dressed me up, and forced dark energy into me. The Black Crystal corrupts and I don’t want to see it change anyone else I care about.” Usagi turned her hand over so that she could grab Seiya’s hand with her own.

Seiya knew exactly what she had to do.

* * *

Traveling in space was easier for the Starlights than it was for most senshi. That was the reason they were always compared to shooting stars. Sailor Star Fighter was able to find Nemesis and traveled there on her own.

She could feel the dark energy throbbing all around her. The Black Crystal was easy to find, Sailor Star Fighter felt it drawing her to it.

“I bet you’re happy I’m dead,” a voice said next to Fighter. 

She spun around to see the rotting corpse of Tuxedo Mask standing before her. He was casually leaning against a large black spike sticking out of the ground.

“No, I’m not. I hate seeing her suffer and if I could bring you back to her, I would.”

“What do you plan to do with the Black Crystal once you claim it?” Tuxedo Mask straightened out and moved towards Fighter. “Do you plan to take over the Earth, to make her your queen?”

“No. I’m just going to help her save her planet. Anything else is up to her.” Fighter turned away from Tuxedo Mask and back towards to Black Crystal.

“You can’t deny that you’re tempted,” Tuxedo Mask said as he moved in front of Fighter to block her path.

“Yes, I am tempted,” Fighter admitted. “I’m tempted because I’m human and I do want to be happy with the woman I love, but I’d never try and force that on her.”

“Good,” said Tuxedo Mask. “I’m glad to hear that you are that kind of woman, Seiya Kou.”

“Are you real or some sort of test?” Fighter asked.

“Does it matter?” Tuxedo Mask asked in response.

“I guess not.” Fighter was about to leave, but she paused. “If you were the real Tuxedo Mask, what would you want?”

“I love her, but if I were the real Tuxedo Mask and if I were really dead, I’d want her to be with someone that makes her happy and not to mourn me.” 

“Good,” Fighter echoed. “I’m glad to hear that you were that kind of man, Chiba Mamoru.”

Fighter now continued on her journey as the phantom faded away into nothingness. She would encounter more phantoms on her trek, but none were as meaningful. All tried to divert her or convince her to use the Black Crystal for her own ends, but Fighter never gave in, no matter what the temptation was.

* * *

Sailor Moon looked up at the stars. Sailor Star Fighter had disappeared, and Sailor Moon was scared. She hoped and prayed that Fighter had decided to just go back home, but deep down she knew that Fighter would never abandon them like that.

A tear welled up in her eye as she saw a shooting star. It then got bigger and bigger, until she realized it was one of the Starlights teleporting. Sailor Moon ran, leaping up to the tops of buildings, trying to follow it. It was heading in a familiar direction, towards Hikawa Shrine.

When she got there she found Sailor Star Fighter collapses onto the ground. In her hand was the Black Crystal.

“Seiya!” Sailor Moon cried out as she ran to Fighter’s side, pulling her close and kissing her on the lips. “Don’t do that ever again. I can’t lose you. I can’t go through something like that again.”

Fighter weakly chuckled. “If I knew I’d get that type of reception I would have gone to get you the Black Crystal long ago,” she joked.

Fighter reached up and caressed the side of Sailor Moon’s face before kissing her. “I’m sorry. I wanted to help you so much that I didn’t think.”

* * *

With the Black Crystal it was possible to restore a normal amount of darkness to the hearts of the purified, when used with the Silver Crystal it prevented the Black Crystal from adding too much darkness. Princess Kinmoku brought Sailor Senshi from across the stars to help Sailor Moon and her remaining senshi. Within a month the Sailor Senshi had turned all the purified back to normal.

Many families were reunited. Friends embraced each other. But not everyone got a happy ending. There were many that hadn’t survived to even become the purified, ripped apart by the horde. For the Sailor Senshi, only Sailor Neptune was still alive to be turned back to normal.

The world was at peace and Usagi sat on Seiya’s bed, covered only in a sheet. Seiya had her arm wrapped around her as she placed kisses on the side of Usagi’s face.

“I don’t want to become Neo Queen Serenity,” Usagi said.

Seiya paused in her kissing. “Why not?”

“She punished people by banishing them to Nemesis. Maybe some of them deserved it, but children had to grow up in a lightless world. Neo Queen Serenity isn’t much different from Queen Serenity. I don’t want to be that.”

Seiya’s arm tightened around Usagi. “Then what do you want?”

“I want to make friends with other Senshi, form bonds to help each other when we need it.”

Seiya smiled. “That sounds like a wonderful goal and that is why I fell in love with you.”

Usagi turned her head to smile at Seiya, before kissing her. Much more happened that night other than kissing, but that was something that only the moon and the stars got to witness.


End file.
